Student launch invitation, showing a Pettersson motor launch made by student Lars Herfeldt and launched last December

TheBoat Building Academydown at Lyme is inviting intheboatshed.net readers to attend its big student launch on the 9th December. The event starts from around 8am, with the boats going in the water at around 9.30am.

It will be possible for visitors to see the Academy premises, so long as they don’t get in the students’ way.

Some 18 students are launching boats, and the photos below show the current state of some of them. It looks like very nice work, but there’s still some way to go. Will they make it? I’m sure they will. I won’t be able to make it myself, so if any readers take their cameras, I would be grateful for photos I can publish please!

Click here for the BBA’s short course prospectus for 2011 – in addition to the established offerings, it is offering Colin Henwood of Henwood and Deaninstructing a five-day course on renovation and finishing, a two-dayer on rope work and wire splicing, and a three- or five-day half-model making course, the length of which depends on whether you want to make a standard model or one of your own choice.

Last year’s course on building a West Greenland kayak is back, and there’s a new introduction to woodworking skills course, which might reasonably be described woodworking for the petrified.

Reader Brian Pearson has kindly given me permission to put up a few of the photos he and his son took of the Boatbuilding Academy’s student launch day last Saturday. Thanks Brian!

He tells me that it was a really nice event with lots of people, a watery winter sun – which was great after all the terrible weather we’ve been having – and lots of lovely boats and happy boat builders with their families.

There will be more when principal Yvonne Green manages to send some over together with details of the boats, as I hope she will – and perhaps with luck the students themselves will chip in also.

I must say there are some delightful pieces of work here – particularly the pram with no metal components of any kind. Take a bow, boatbuilding students of Lyme!

Ben Crawshaw’s book about cruising the Mediterranean in a craft made using free boat plans

The Running Tide – Gavin Atkin’s online album of songs for singing sailors

A new magazine: Classic Sailor

Classic Sailor is a new magazine about traditional and classic boats from ex-Classic Boat editor Dan Houston and colleagues that promises rather more coverage of the traditional craft around our coast. I think we should wish them well... Find out more here.

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Gavin Atkin's weblog for the sort of people who like looking inside boat sheds: old boats, traditional boats, boat building, restoration, the sea and the North Kent Coast

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Boatbuilding help available

Our Faversham-based friend Alan Thorne can help with boatbuilding projects - constructing to plans in very tidy stitch-and-glue or more traditional techniques. Contact him by email at ajthorne3@hotmail.com or phone 07865 091155